Chiral tunneling and the Klein paradox in graphene

The so-called Klein paradox - unimpeded penetration of relativistic particles through high and wide potential barriers - is one of the most exotic and counterintuitive consequences of quantum electrodynamics (QED). The phenomenon is discussed in many contexts in particle, nuclear and astro- physics but direct tests of the Klein paradox using elementary particles have so far proved impossible. Here we show that the effect can be tested in a conceptually simple condensed-matter experiment by using electrostatic barriers in single- and bi-layer graphene. Due to the chiral nature of their quasiparticles, quantum tunneling in these materials becomes highly anisotropic, qualitatively different from the case of normal, nonrelativistic electrons. Massless Dirac fermions in graphene allow a close realization of Klein's gedanken experiment whereas massive chiral fermions in bilayer graphene offer an interesting complementary system that elucidates the basic physics involved.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Modeling electromagnetic form factors of light and heavy pseudoscalar mesons

The electromagnetic form factors of light and heavy pseudoscalar mesons are calculated within two covariant constituent-quark models, a light-front and a dispersion relation approach. We investigate the details and physical origins of the model dependence of various hadronic observables: the weak decay constant, the charge radius and the elastic electromagnetic form factor.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, use revtex4. Figure 2 and references are corrected. Acknoledgments are adde

Spectral Density Functional Approach to Electronic Correlations and Magnetism in Crystals

A novel approach to electronic correlations and magnetism of crystals based on realistic electronic structure calculations is reviewed. In its simplest form it is a combination of the ``local density approximation'' (LDA) and the dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) approaches. Using numerically exact QMC solution to the effective DMFT multi-orbital quantum-impurity problem, a successful description of electronic structure and finite temperature magnetism of transition metals has been achieved. We discuss a simplified perturbation LDA+DMFT scheme which combines the T-matrix and fluctuation-exchange approximation (TM-FLEX). We end with a discussion of cluster generalization of the non-local DMFT scheme and its applications to the magnetism and superconductivity of high-Tc superconductors.Comment: 37 pages, to be published in: "Electron Correlations and Materials Properties 2" ed. by A. Gonis (Kluwer, NY

The most incompressible metal osmium at static pressures above 750 gigapascals

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